Re: Using Debian as a base for a LiveCD together with non-free products.
Jenner Fusari wrote:
is it possible to use Debian as the base for a Live CD intended to
present a commercial (non free) software (test and evaluate it in its
demo version)? Is there any legal issue on doing this?
There could be; we have no idea.
From the free software side, there should be very few problems.
Linkage might be an issue. If the non-free app links to works licensed
under the GNU GPL, there's an exception that allows this *if the two
works are not distributed together*, which might make the app legal
normally but not on the Live CD. Also, if you recompile things from
Debian main to pull in non-free dependencies, that could be a problem.
Most apps won't run into these problems, though.
It's different on the non-free side. Non-free encompasses everything
from the GNU GFDL with invariant sections to the Microsoft End-User
License Agreement. If your non-free app were, say, Internet Explorer 7
or Microsoft Office, the answer would clearly be "yes, you have issues",
but Debian would be the least of your legal worries in that situation.
For this reason (and, obviously, for the other reason that I'm not a
lawyer, and few of us in debian-legal are), you might want to check with
a real lawyer to make sure.
Reply to: